Select a Catering Company to Get Catering Services with These Tips
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Planning an event starts with compiling a list of the services that you are going to outsource and the top spot is always occupied by food catering services. With this list, there begins a quest of the best company and those involved in the process search at all fronts like the Internet, local yellow pages, references, local magazines and newspapers, etc. This quest ends with short listing at least 6, 7 or even 8 companies and with this, the second phase starts, i.e. of filtering them out. This can be done pretty easily with the help of the following tips.
Determining the number of expected guests Determining the number of guests expected at your event will help you determine the quantity of the party foods to be arranged. You will also get in the position to consider the type of company to be hired. In case, the guest count is below 100, you can hire any company having expertise of dealing with this number. But in case, the guest count is high, suppose 500+, in that case, the company you would select should be very professional, experienced and established. Therefore, it’s very important that you consider the size of your party and expected guests before talking to a caterer.
Determine the number of guests that they have served before A very important question is regarding the maximum number of guests that they have served before. This question becomes very crucial if the number of guests’ expected at your event is going to exceed 300. Moreover, while getting the answer from the catering services providers, don’t forget to ask them for how long they have been in the industry.
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Another thing that you should find out is the kinds of events that they have served earlier in their tenure.
See for samples and photographs Before deciding anything regarding party foods arrangements, it is important to see some photographs from the shortlisted companies. These photographs should be of the food preparation as well as in the events covered by them in the recent past. Amidst this, the most influential step is asking these caterers to arrange a tasting session of the samples of food items to be served at your event. This would give you an exact idea of the kind of party foods expected at your event. Apart from this, one more step is requesting them to make you a part of their team for an event that they are going to cover in a near future. You can go through details like food presentation, preparations, behaviour of the staff, smaller arrangements like drinking water availability, etc. and decide on the basis of the feedback or your experience.
Other than these, some other very crucial points to keep in mind are –
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Asking about overtime charges as your event might run past the expected time Asking about payment terms and conditions as most catering companies will require an advance deposit What happens if more guests come than expected? Reach an agreement with your caterer on how to care for unexpected guests
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